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Flap. Flap. Flap. The methodical rhythm of Aerodactyl's wings beating in the afternoon sun filled the air as Matthew sat atop his prehistoric pterodactyl, looking down at the beauty of the sea they were flying over. The sun reflected off the great expanse as far as the eye could see, the size of the 'blue planet' vast oceans slipping away from speech; the significant vision of peacefulness helping calm Matthew's beating heart as he prepared. A cold wind blew through the air as Matthew's body-weight changed position subconsciously, the anticipation of his Aerodactyl's movements of such a degree that the young trainer needn't think before doing, the connection so deep that the idea came naturally. Sniffing in a deep breath of fresh salty air Matthew looked out to the boundless sea, pondering on its enigmatic origins and sustainability; its existential riddle far from answered by exponential theories.

Water splashed past either side of the fossil Pokémon, the optimistic opportunist having attempted to catch a fish from the waters below; its claws extended and dragging on the waves. Its unsuccessful attempt brought Matthew back from his daydream, the young trainer looking around once more at the vast abyss surrounding him. The fizzytopian gardens beckoned, the wide open space of the newly refurbished park bringing the opportunity to play with his Pokémon that the bar never could, even offering spots for larger Pokémon. He chuckled to himself as he remembered the looks he got when he brought his Rhyperior into the small space, the two getting into even more trouble when the rock-type scrapped with another of his species, causing the trainer to be red-faced at the damage of a few tables and chairs. The park also provided the opportunity to get some well-needed fresh air, his base in the Glacier Region providing it at the cost of the freezing temperatures, not to mention that it had become synonymous with training. This trip, however, was meant to help Matthew and his Pokémon blow off some steam, spend some quality time together and bond as a unit. He had done so previously with the Pokémon that had came before, his memory allowing him to remember that much but not the details of their release. He tried to stop thinking about it, twisting uncomfortably before facing another section of the sea.

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind Matthew turned to check his rucksack, the ever-useful tool this time helping him carry some essentials to the park; a red and black lumberjack pattern picnic rug furled up in one of the corners, a picnic basket filled to the brim with tasty treats Matthew had cooked, an ice box filled with special drinks each different for the intended Pokémon, fruits and berries gathered from the berry shop and last but not least a couple of bottles of Rosé and a few beers for the trainer. It was, of course, his time to relax too; the park providing the perfect opportunity to unwind. Rooting around at the bottom Matthew picked out a half-drunk bottle of Oasis Summer Fruits, finishing the bottle as he quenched his parched thirst. Finishing with the bottle, Matthew placed it back in his bag before turning to spot land ahead.

“When we get to the park, land on the cliff near the mystic lake” he commanded, waiting for the inevitable ascent.

It came sure enough, Matthew feeling the force as the Aerodactyl rose higher, leaving behind the sea to accommodate for the land's abrupt cliff-range. Within a few minutes, Aerodactyl had made its way to the edge, setting the man down and standing in front of him. Matthew sighed as he put a hand on Aerodactyl's beak, rubbing its rough rock skin before taking a deep gulp.

“You're … you're now the level of the others” he said, his voice breaking slightly as he hesitated with his speech, “you have served me well and I will always love you for that, but … but now it's time to spread your wings.”

A single tear dripped down from Matthew's face as he turned away, hiding his emotional face from his Pokémon.

“The others left to make a family, to enjoy life, I'm sure of it” he recited, “and now it's time for you to do the same. You have always been by my side when I needed you but now I must return the favour, I cannot let you stay with me and suffer, I have to let you free. I can't keep you contained, you're too precious.”

Dropping the silver-lined Pokéball to the floor, Matthew raised a foot before smashing it on the rocks. Bursting the plastic into pieces, Matthew felt the explosion of energy from the Aerodactyl as it was released from his capture, the flying-type having total control over its actions once more.

“Go... Go now. Enjoy your life like they did. Stop letting me keep you from happiness” Matthew continued, the verse seemingly recited like he had been practicing in the mirror. Matthew felt the power of the Aerodactyl's wings rise, a Tailwind blowing Matthew round to face it once more. The Pokémon stood tall, flapping its wings down to the ground without liftoff, cawwing loudly without moving.

“Y-you want to stay?” he asked, the Aerodactyl nodding in answer.

Placing a hand on the Aerodactyl's beak once more, Matthew smiled as his chest welled up with pride. Swinging his backpack round, Matthew withdrew a Blue Cyberball, its energy humming in his hand as it routinely glowed and pulsed.

“Then you're welcome to stay”, Matthew said, presenting the ball to the Aerodactyl, clicking the middle button as the fossil Pokémon was swallowed by the red light. Holding the ball in one hand Matthew saw it sway a few times before stars flew out of it, the capture being complete once more. Throwing the ball into the air, Matthew saw the Pokémon burst out with renewed energy.

“Hauser. Your new name will be Hauser” Matthew announced, the Aerodactyl flapping its wings once more. “Now come, we've had enough drama. We need to go relax for a bit, what say you?”

Matthew clambered on board the Aerodactyl's back as it released a Flamethrower into the air before using the Tailwind to take off.

“If only someone had taken a picture” the trainer mused.

After a few minutes of flying above the park, Matthew spotted a hubbub of activity below, the Aerodactyl sensing this as it descended. With a variety of trainers already there running around with their Pokémon, Matthew couldn't help but feel late to the party, missing the opening only slightly and yet it appeared so much had happened in the time he wasn't there. Landing in a secluded corner of the park garden so not to disturb any other trainer with the same idea as him Matthew grabbed a few spheres from his Pokébelt, releasing them all up into the air at the same time. Within a few seconds, most of his Pokémon joined him in the park; Togepi in his arms; Shieldon, Anorith, Lileep and Omanyte by his side; his new Porygon floating slightly above his head and his new Zigzagoon already curiously rubbing its nose to the ground, sniffing it for new smells.

Seeing the new Pokémon in the group, Matthew rummaged through his bag once more, pulling out a plastic disc, the white Frisbee a new addition especially for the park. Whistling for his Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon's ears immediately pricked up as Matthew threw it, the mischievous Pokémon running in zig-zags before finally catching up to the Frisbee's flight path, jumping and catching it in its mouth.

“You're a natural Crim” Matthew exclaimed, his excitement soon quelled as the raccoon held it in its mouth, “Bring it back now”

Matthew groaned as it did not, continuing its path away from the trainer with the flying disc in its mouth, showing no sign or intention of returning the disc. Hurriedly running up to his Pokémon, Matthew wrestled the toy from Crim's mouth before turning back to the rest of the gang.

“Now you Deckard”, he said, pointing to his new Porygon, carefully throwing the disc with enough power to make it float, but not enough to make it scare the inquisitive Pokémon. As it went in the direction of the polyhedral Pokémon, the Porygon began to show interest, buzzing as it floated beside it. Hoping that the Porygon would catch it, Matthew was let down as it fell to the floor, its flight pattern causing it to jet into the soft ground at an angle. With Porygon floating next to it, hovering just a feet or two off the ground and beeping curiously, Zigzagoon suddenly came and side-swiped it; the excitement of the flying disc being thrown again overtaking the Pokémon, taking out Porygon.

With the Virtual Pokémon on its side, Lileep crawled over, using its appendage to right the pink and blue Pokémon before making it hover again, the Porygon beeping once more without a change in attitude. Matthew raised a brow at his new Pokémon, but shrug it off as new-team jitters. Looking in his bag, Matthew questioned the Zigzagoon's excitement if he were to bring out the other toys all at once, having a tennis ball and a kite stuffed into the nether regions of the rucksack before deciding that the Frisbee would be enough for now.

Continuing the routinely tradition of having to wrestle the disc out of Zigzagoon's mouth before throwing it, Matthew and the gang continued into the middle of the park, before spotting a large tree, one that looked perfect for Aerodactyl. In the distance, Matthew could see a trainer sitting down having a picnic, only noticing it as his friend Jessica as they got closer.

“Hey Jessica. Do you mind if we join you” he asked, waiting for an answer before pulling out his picnic rug and laying it down, his Pokémon helping straighten it out before he flopped on the ground.

Breathing a relaxing sigh, Matthew watched as Aerodactyl flew into the tree, a bunch of Pidgey flying outwards. Looking up, Matthew noticed Aerodactyl's lack of attempt to catch them, glad to see his lesson about not catching 'prey' while in a public space was settling in, instead the fossil helping itself to the fruit the tree bore at the top.

Reaching back into his bag, Matthew pulled out his pic-a-nic basket and set it down on the rug, handing out specific foods to his Pokémon; a freshly baked Bloomer, carrot and celery sticks,Brazil Nuts, and a bag of trail-mix the first to be handed out. With each Pokémon happily scoffing down the selected foods, Matthew finally had a minute to turn and talk to Jessica.

“Wow, I see you've acquired some new Pokémon since we last met” he said, amazing at the new species Jessica had picked up, “Who are these little cuties then?”

Meowth, Peeves, Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor: As Meowth became aware that what he had been saying had been overheard, he clapped his front paws to his mouth as Peeves gave him a look.

"And you the one who say you no think Keith want others to know yet," he said to Meowth.

"Eh, shut up," Meowth muttered to Peeves before glancing up at Connor. "Yeah, it's true," he added. "He told ya how he almost drowned when he were seven? He always left out a detail when he told dat story- he did drown, but came back ta life when da Pokemon dat saved him bumped inta him ta push him ta shore. 'Cept his soul was startin' ta turn into a Gastly, but when he were revived, it never changed back fer some reason. Long story short, he's one quarter Gastly. Dat's how he was able ta learn Shuppet language so quick. I even seen him make dat purple smoke like a Gastly, but it seems ta tire him out when he does it."

Peeves, meanwhile, fueled by curiosity, used his Foresight attack to glance into the Rose Garden, to see just what Keith and Coselle were getting up to...

Keith, Coselle: Keith hadn't expected Coselle's response to his answer, as she stated that she was a liar, and a dirty one. Unsure what to make of this statement, Keith watched as she walked towards the bench, and then she suddenly turned around, and before Keith could react, actually lifted him off the ground, their eyes maintaining constant contact the entire time. Her soft smile contradicted the vicious action, and though this action had certainly surprised Keith, he could not honestly say he had been scared. After stating that she liked to keep people on their toes... they kissed. She pulled him towards her, the violent, quick motion contrasted by the soothing tenderness as their lips met. Everything Coselle was doing contradicted everything else she did... And Keith was loving it. After a few seconds... or perhaps a few minutes... hard to tell... Coselle let Keith go- except not really. She still had him by the collar of his shirt as she laughed maniacally, and then she let go, throwing him onto the grass. Coselle stood over Keith, and the Poison-type trainer (a phrase which could now be taken in more ways than one, come to think of it) looked up at her- beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

Coselle then laughed, an eerie, jubilant laugh, as she suggested that maybe Keith might die tonight after all. Such a statement should have sent shivers down a sane man's spine, and indeed, it did so with Keith, though he was pretty sure this was for an entirely different reason. As Coselle then insinuated that they were being spied upon, Keith glanced around for a second, and thought he could spot the ear of a Minccino in one of the bushes before he was yanked back to his feet. Coselle made sure to brush some of the grass off of Keith as she said, in a rather nonchalant manner, that she is the only one who should have the privilege of hearing him scream.

"Let's go, then," Keith said to Coselle. He couldn't decide whether he was nervous or excited as to what Coselle had in store for him, so he settled for a somewhat bizarre mixture of both, though leaning just a tad more towards excited. He was starting to gather that with Coselle, it was best to expect the unexpected. Oh, yes, this relationship was sure to be interesting.

((And now for a short break from your regularly scheduled FEEEEELS and controversy~))

Kin strode lightly into the park, perplexity momentarily crossing his face as he took in the smooth, manicured grasses.
"I... I thought the pictures looked different?" Glancing around in confusion, he finally shrugged and spaded his hands into his pockets. "Nature- Unpredictable as it is beautiful." Flicking his wrists both loosely and suddenly, four pulses of light burst from his figures, forming into four distinct shapes. The first rains onto his shoulder, the light exploding to reveal a cherry-like creature similar in size to the trainer's head. The second formed a small distance away from the rest of the explosions, quickly forming a small black cat who passively studied the grass between her paws. The third took shape close to it's origin, generating an equine figure much larger than the previous creatures, about equal in height to his trainer, if not a bit taller. The final burst of light materialized extremely close to it's origin, the resultant fan-like creature almost huddling against it's trainer's leg. The four turned expectantly towards their trainer with the exception of the black kitten. Smiling, Kin gestured towards the entirety of the park.

"Okay, guys. I want you all to get to know some other pokemon. I may be your trainer, but that doesn't mean I'm some kind of replacement for social experience. Go out and socialize with others you can actually communicate with, hmm? And, yes, Nihilia, Checkers, that includes you." With the last line, he nodded in turn first to the cat then to the rotor. Nihilia slowly wandered off who-knows-where, whereas Checkers hesitated for a moment before floating off, casting glances back towards her team. The equine nodded their approval before trotting off. The cherry made to jump to the floor, but Kin wordlessly held his hand up to stop them, triggering an odd look from the red pixie. Kin grinned before nodding towards the lake.

"I think I'm going to explore the lake. And I can't very well do that without a partner, now can I? So, Sundance, what say we rustle up some treasures?" Sundance replied with what could only really be described as a chirp, gripping onto Kin's arm so as not to take a tumble when his trainer inexplicably and inexorably skipped his way down to the lake and the group relaxing in it's shallows.

Checkers:
Checkers glanced around the clearing, carefully searching for a way out of this crazy plan. But... she had promised her trainer she would try, and so- Suddenly, a familiar pulse crossed her consciousness, knocking her immobile for a brief moment. "B... Brothers...?" Struck by this almost lightning-like aura, she quietly made her way to the picnic casting delectable smells in every direction.

Nihilia
Nihilia quietly contemplated the loud sounds of mixed excitement of various varieties emanating from the group centered around the Meowth. It seemed a good idea to simply observe at this point- if she was in any way causing an inconvenience, she knew she would be informed in due time.

Caliel (aka the Equine)
Caliel carefully came to a stop by the group primarily composed of steels, carefully slowing as to not trample any of the somewhat-smaller species underfoot. "Hello," he gracefully began "My name is Caliel. If it would not trouble you, I would be most pleased to make your acquaintance."

Last edited by Kindrindra; 21st November 2012 at 7:47 AM.

"Open your mouth too wide, and your ears close."

Do you wish you could do things like in the anime?
Do you wish you could dodge behind a rock to avoid an attack?
Do you wish that you could use the arena to stop your opponents cold?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, the Pokemon Anime Style Battling League could be for you!

Hermione, Caliel, Rawk, Max, Himiko, Kilo, Totsuka, Arondight: As Hermione awaited an answer to her question from the Shadow Zangoose, a Girafarig made its way over to the group and introduced himself as Caliel. "It's very nice to meet you, Caliel," Hermione said. "You're a Girafarig, aren't you? Excuse me, but I've sometimes found myself wondering about the second head on a Girafarig's tail... is there a brain? Can it think, and if so, does it think what you think, or does it think independently? Please excuse me if I'm asking too many questions, but there's just so much for me to learn!"

Peeves, Meowth, Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor: Peeves stopped his Foresight, having observed Keith and Coselle's... ahem... interactions with each other, up until the point where she had stated that they should take their... activities elsewhere. "Wow," he muttered. "I never think to expect that."

"What? What's goin' on, Peeves?" Meowth asked.

"It happening between them," Peeves stated. "They in love. I see them kiss. She a little rough with him, but it unmistakably love."

Hermione, Caliel, Rawk, Max, Himiko, Kilo, Totsuka, Arondight:
Caliel appreciatively nodded as the Weedle's questions multiplied, a smile noticeably marking his face before he replied.
"Ah, so many questions! You remind me a bit of my trainer in that." His smile vanished for a moment as his expression turned pensive, and his colours seemed almost to visibly darken.
"My trainer tells me that my tail does indeed have a 'brain'... But I can tell you from personal experience that it most certainly can think. A bit too much, at times. Whether it thinks the same things as me... is a bit complicated. As much as I would like to say that it does not, it... must be said that, to a certain degree, we are the same being. Yet..." Caliel trails off, seemingly becoming enrapt in his own thoughts for a few moments before regaining control of his senses, blinking once before grinning back at his inquisitor.
"Sorry about that. I had a little... Ah, never you mind. It's nothing. Was there anything else you wished to know?"

"Open your mouth too wide, and your ears close."

Do you wish you could do things like in the anime?
Do you wish you could dodge behind a rock to avoid an attack?
Do you wish that you could use the arena to stop your opponents cold?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, the Pokemon Anime Style Battling League could be for you!

Blueberry mulled over Gadget's garbled apology and offer to mow their bakery's lawn for a moment, then nodded in approval and proffered a plate full of flower-shaped cookies. She shared a look with Waffle as they watched Gadget devour the sweets. They both beamed and shrugged, deciding not to tell the little lawnmower that Jessica's Base was on the beach, where there was no grass to grow or graze.

Jessica grinned as Gadget answered her question, and though he appeared to be making an effort to speak slowly, Waffle still found it hard to keep up with his fast-paced brother. The girl got the gist of most of it though.

"Glad to hear miss Coselle is taking good care of you. Yes, I do go on Adventures. Not as many these days though. I recently came back from a trip to Cascadia with my Snorunt though, where I met and stayed with miss Stacey. Have you heard of her? She was actually a student under Marion's mentorsip at one point. Now she's a major member of the Fizzytopian government."

At that point, Meowth came back, seeming stunned. His expression was pale (despite his already white coat), as if he had just seen a ghost. He took a moment to confer privately with Peeves, who exclaimed something in astonishment. Jessica cocked an eyebrow, but considered it prudent not to pry given what they had already revealed. Heck, she wasn't sure she could take any more surprises today.

Meanwhile, Connor was addressing her, and she alerted in haste, finding it more difficult to focus on carrying a human conversation when she was so used to sequestering herself with creatures. He seemed to sense her distress, and asked whether anything was wrong.

"Ah, no... It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Jessica bit her lip, hoping she hadn't tipped him off to the situation. Luckily, he was soon distracted by Gadget and Sewaddle. Jessica laughed lightly as Connor watched the Rotom’s energized antics in amazement, happy to have so many lively Pokémon on her side - even if one of them wasn't really hers.

"Coselle is Marion's older sister," she corrected hastily, thankful for the opportunity to set the matter “straight” and steer him away from the truth. “She’s looking after Marion’s affairs while she’s in the hospital.”

Connor nodded, then graciously accepted Sewaddle’s crown, balancing it on his already oversized beanie. As he asked the others how he looked, Jessica giggled and said it suited him. Connor was about to thank the bug, but faltered and glanced to Jess to fill in the blank. She blushed in embarrassment once again.

“I, uh… Actually haven’t found a name for her yet. We’re waiting for the perfect one. …Got any suggestions?” She whispered.

At that moment, Meowth’s voice began to mechanically mount to its normal volume, his natural drawl drawing attention to himself.

“Yeah, I know, but see, apparently, when Keith was seven, he drowned at da beach at Cinnabar Island, but just two seconds or so after he died, dis Missingno. ting pushed him back to shore, and someting about how da shock from da impact got his heart goin' again. But see, apparently his soul was all set to turn into a Gastly and had started, but when he came back ta life, da little bit o' transformation his soul underwent never reversed itself. He's still three quarters human, just one quarter Gastly.”

At this point, everyone – even the humans – had stopped what they were doing and were now gaping at him. Well, excepting Sewaddle and Gadget, who seemed more preoccupied with sewing and sweets respectively. Meowth continued to blab on without even realizing his mistake. Finally, Connor spoke up to express his skepticism, and Meowth clapped his hands over his mouth as Peeves facepalmed.

Jessica, however, merely thought “Oh.” and turned away from the conversation, no longer interested in hearing beyond. To be honest, nothing they could say anymore would shock her. It certainly didn’t change her view of Keith any, though she had always thought there was something absurd abnormal about him. His so-called “secret” seemed almost silly to her. She sipped her drink quietly, deciding to let Keith and Miner- miss Coselle handle their own happiness, however they chose to. It wasn’t any of her business.

At that moment, Jessica heard a familiar voice call to her, and she looked up to see her old friend Matthew standing nearby. They shared a salutation, and she immediately granted his request to join her with his own blanket and pic-a-nic basket, relieved to have some company she already somewhat comfortable with to help take her mind off matters.

After he was settled, he looked to Jess and her new Pokémon, eager to catch up and make acquaintances. She nodded and pointed to each recent recruit in turn.

“This is Waffle and Blueberry,” she stated, referring to Rotom-H and Drifloon. Waffle wrote “H I” in the air, and Blueberry bowed before beckoning to her bread basket. “She says you can take some to supplement your meal if you want. We brought way too much.”

Sewaddle then sidled up with another couple sets of clothes: a trenchcoat for Deckard, little gloves for each of Lileep’s, Omanyte's, and Anorith's appendages, hats for Shieldon and Togepi, a sweater and boots similar to Kief’s for Crim, and another crown for Matthew himself. She even provided a pair of wing-warmers for when Aerodactyl came down, which she coated in special water-proof silk.

“And this here is Sewaddle. Still searching for a good nickname for her we can agree on. …Don’t suppose you have any suggestions?” she asked again, a hint of desperation in her voice. "By the way, it looks like you've got a bunch of new friends yourself. What are their names?"

Meowth, Minchi, Kanna, Kief, Keith, Coselle:

Meowth finally managed to catch up to the group, but they in fact hardly noticed, too engrossed by what was going on beyond the wall. Wondering what the fuss was about, he joined them at the peephole, and gasped at what he saw. When he heard the shutter click next to him, he swerved around and glared at Minchi, raising a paw to swipe the camera from her. She maintained the machine at arm’s length away from him, and as soon as he got close enough to try and make a grab, she tossed it over his shoulder for Kief to catch. Meowth spun around in anger and confusion, and Kief swiftly pitched to Kanna, who flailed and fumbled but somehow managed to hold onto the delicate instrument by its strap before it struck the ground. When Meowth rushed at her, she panicked and passed again to Minchi, and so the game of keepy-uppy/cat-in-the-middle continued for a while, much to Meowth’s growing frustration.

They all paused, however, when they heard the man’s voice rise, shouting with strength, even going so far to swear. Kanna’s precious ears turned pink at such foul language, but Minchi delighted as she ran back to peer through the hole. The man was proudly professing his love, the woman would have none of it. This went back and forth for a while, the cackling, the crying, the convincing, the call, and then… The kiss. Minchi quickly raised the camera, paw poised over the clicker…

A moment passed. She didn’t press. Instead, she lowered the device slowly and sighed. Meowth had already long since slipped away, and so only Kanna and Kief stared at her strangely.

“It’s, well, you know. No one would believe that a person who looked like a human in the picture was a Pokémon anyway,” she mumbled. “Besides, one is enough.” Though from her tone the others could tell she wasn’t really planning on doing anything with it. Plus, no one bothered to point out the fact that the photo could prove at least one of the participants was part-Pokémon.

“Anyway,” she piped up, “I’m hungry. Let’s head back.”

Kanna nodded, but hesitated. She glanced back at the clearing, where the woman was cleaning grass off the man’s body after throwing him down upon conclusion of the kiss. Kanna wasn’t sure what to make of most of what either of them had said and done – but one thing was for sure – that man had tremendous courage to confess his feelings in such a pure, heartfelt manner. If she could work up that kind of confidence…

Minchi sensed her friend’s hesitation, and smirked, smacking the Furret’s spine hard to practically push her into the puzzled Zigzagoon. Kanna squealed in protest, but Minchi merely winked, mouthing “Good luck,” followed by “I’ll go on ahead. See you guys back there,” in a whisper. She then scampered off out of sight, but stopped around the corner to spy on the scene and lend support if necessary.

Kanna shuffled shyly in muteness for a minute, digging her paws in the dirt as Kief waited patiently for her to speak. She thought long and hard, choosing her phrases carefully. Eventually she opened her mouth, still stumbling over the words. In fact her stutter was even worse than usual.

“U-um, Kief… S-say, we’ve b-been together f-for a long time now, haven’t we? I-I was w-wondering if you would…”

From behind the bush, Minchi stretched out her paw in a thumbs-up. Kanna smiled and straightened, emboldening beautifully.

“What I mean to say is, I wanted to ask if you would be willing to… Go on a… Er… Sometime... With me…” She trailed off again, faltering as she poked her paws together, and Minchi bit her fur, crossing her fingers and toes as far as she could, begging her friend to please persist…

Kanna closed her eyes and bowed her head, saying the following in one breath. “Kiefwouldyoupleasegooutwith-”

Before she could finish, a whistle blew through the air. It wasn’t loud, in fact it was coming from far-off in the distance, so neither “human” could have heard it (if they were even still there). But the three creatures’ sensitive ears all picked up on it. Kief especially. He perked up his nose and sniffed in the direction of the sound’s source, and barked loudly, completely forgetting he was supposed to be silent. He began bounding immediately back towards the park, barely brushing past Minchi as she promptly pressed up against the flowers to avoid being seen, her camouflage actually seeming to work – or else he simply didn’t notice her in his excitement. Kanna was left gazing sadly after his footprints on the fresh-trimmed path. Minchi slipped out and approached her friend, patting the poor Furret’s back to soothe.

“Boys, huh?” she sighed sarcastically. Kanna shook her head, her face simultaneously softening and strengthening. Kief’s carefree nature was what made her fall for him after all. The girls exchanged expressions, and burst into mirth. Linking paws, Kanna leaned on Minchi’s shoulder as the latter led her brokenhearted best friend back to the picnic for some brownie-binging (if there were any left, that is).

OoC – It’s 4AM and this feels like a good stopping point so I’ll just post this now. ^^; There were some other things I wanted to include from the most recent posts but I’ll incorporate those next time. *watch me always be behind* Once Thanksgiving break is over I definitely think I'll be dropping out. It's been fun but RF is definitely not for me. =x

Hermione, Caliel, Rawk, Max, Himiko, Kilo, Totsuka, Arondight:
As the group awaited for the probably feast, a Girafarig named Caliel came to introduce herself. Hermione, curious, quickly asked her a bunch of questions which the equine answered politely. As she asked if she had any more interrogations, Himiko slipped a few question marks of her own, feeling a supernatural connection with her.

"You are a Psychic Pokémon, like me, right?" She elegantly wagged her forked tail. "I became one only recently; before my evolution, I didn't have all those powers, and I'm still not used to them either," she blushed. "It's the first time I meet another of my new type, so... do you have any pointers for one just starting to use telekinesis, mind-reading and whatnot?"

Hermione, Caliel, Rawk, Max, Himiko, Kilo, Totsuka, Arondight: Hermione listened with interest as the Girafarig explained that the second head had a mind of its own, and seemed to struggle to find the words to describe whether it thought the same things that the main head did. After seeming to have to think about something for a moment, Caliel asked whether Hermione had any more questions. The Weedle wasn't sure where to begin- she probably had a billion questions for the Girafarig, but she eventually settled on one. "So, something I was wondering... Do you- I mean, you and your second head, do- can the two of you converse with each other? My trainer has a Weezing, and their two heads can think independently, but they seem to have telepathic capabilities- most Weezing, apparently, only use their telepathy to allow their two heads to synchronize their thoughts and speak to each other, but his Weezing can telepathically communicate with others. Anyway, I was wondering how similar of a case yours was to theirs, I suppose."

Hebenon, Meowth, Peeves, Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor: The commotion on shore did not escape the notice of the Qwilfish (it easily escaped the notice of Pisces, as the Blue-Striped Basculin continued to munch on the Bouffalant carcass), who excused himself from the present company, took a look to make sure that Pisces would be adequately occupied by her meal for the time being, and Teleported over to where Meowth and Peeves were.

Hebenon was silent for a second as he allowed these facts to sink in. It was a lot to take in. It didn't have any kind of negative impact on what he thought of his trainer, of course... Keith had taken the Qwilfish in when nobody else was gonna. More than that, he stuck with the Qwilfish in spite of all manner of pressure from other trainers, even going so far as to somehow working out a method of holding him in his arms. Part Gastly or not, in love with a psychotic Banette or not, Hebenon still knew that Keith was the best trainer a Qwilfish could want. But still, this was a lot to take in all at once! At last, he spoke up.

"I think we should just be glad Keith didn't bring Sirius here," Hebenon said. "That Mightyena doesn't trust Minerva one bit. One whiff of her and he'd have been off, and would not stop growling at her- and that's a best-case scenario."

"Her real name Coselle," Peeves said. "That name she have when she alive, back when she human. That name Keith call her now. I think that what we all should call her now."

"Very well," Hebenon said. Then the brief silence was broken by the Qwilfish's stomach growling. "Sorry," Hebenon added. "Hopefully next time Keith packs a picnic lunch, he waits until after returning Pisces to her Poke Ball. You two weren't here when Goyle evolved into Victreebel, were you? That was a nightmare, and it's like that all over again. Good thing Basculin are a little smaller and more manageable than Victreebel... So, any good food around here?"

"Why you no say so?" Peeves said. "Follow me."

Peeves, Meowth, Hebenon, Jessica, Sewaddle, Blueberry, Waffle, Gadget: Peeves and Meowth made their way back over to where Jessica and her Pokemon (plus Gadget) were, and Hebenon Teleported there immediately.

"Are you sure about this?" asked the Qwilfish. "It'll be all right if we take some of their food?"

"Oh, yes, this Hebenon, he our trainer's Qwilfish," Peeves said to Jessica, introducing Hebenon to her. "It OK if he have some food too? No worry, he no eat as much as me... Though if you think I bad, be glad my trainer no bring his Gulpin, his Victreebel, or his Vileplume. Compared to them, I light eater."

Meowth, Peeves, Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor, Jessica, Sewaddle: After Meowth had explained to him one more time about Keith's situation, Connor just sat back down from his position, unsure of what to say as he tried to take in what he had just said. "I... see," was all he could say at this point. It was clear that the photographer had been surprised at all this as he placed his hand on his head, trying to make sense of it all. When that didn't work, he tried to find something, anything, to distract him, he shook his head and turned back to Jessica who had explained to him about Coselle and Marion. "Oh, I see. She's still not feeling well huh? I feel bad for not even finding the time to pay her a visit recently, even though I know they wouldn't let visitors in... I know I've been busy trying to make money to set up my own photo studio, but still..." he frowned as he patted Gaspard on the head, doing so made him feel comforted a bit and smile. Jessica had then asked Connor for any suggestions for her Sewaddle's name. "A name? Hmm, let's see..." When it came to names, it usually takes Connor a while to think of one and when he does, it was usually out of the ordinary. "How about... Elza? Rhonda? Karen? Orelia? Isadora? ...no good?" he said to her.

Keith, Connor, Meowth: A fair amount of time had passed since Keith and Coselle had left the Rose Garden... now, Keith returned to the main area of the park, by himself. His clothes looked a little more wrinkled and disheveled than usual, a couple of mild bruises were visible on his arms, and he was sore nearly all over, but damned if he wasn't in the best mood of his life! There was a smile on his face and a spring in his step as he re-entered the park, and looked around. He then saw Connor and walked over. "Hey, Connor!" Keith said. "Didn't see you here before! Good to see you. Ohhhh, it is a beautiful day!" he exclaimed, unable to stop grinning. Of course, it should be obvious that it's not the weather that's gotten Keith in such a good mood. Indeed, his... *ahem* activities with Coselle were still fresh in his mind. "See the Rotom over there, the Mow Rotom?" Keith asked, pointing at Gadget. "Well, I had seen him when I first got here, and when he zoomed off like that, I wanted to see who his trainer was. So I followed him... turns out he's Marion's, but he's being looked after by her sister while she's in the hospital... Marion's condition is improving, by the way, I heard," Keith added. "You ever met her sister? Coselle? So anyway, she and I got to talking..." he gave a modest chuckle before continuing. "Well, I'm not gonna say it was love at first sight, or at least not for her, not exactly... well, hard to tell with her, she's interesting like that... But I'm just gonna say that... heh... she and I..." Keith winked, and said no more on this. "Wish she would've returned to the park with me, only she wanted to go and visit Marion in the hospital. I would've come with her, only apparently they're only allowing family members to visit at the moment."

Keith merely grinned and winked. Meowth got the idea and nodded knowingly. Keith then turned back to Connor. "So, Connor, I see you got Gaspard and Eleanor with you. What other Pokemon did you bring? I'd be careful about letting any of your Water-types into that lake," he added, glancing at Pisces, and resolving to not ask where she got the Bouffalant carcass. "My Blue-Striped Basculin's in there, and, well... she enjoys to hunt. She's a predator through and through, and not a very picky one, either. Hebenon can usually keep her in line, so there's no real cause for concern," he assured him. "Aside from Meowth, Hebenon, and Pisces- that's the Basculin- I also brought Peeves, Hermione,- my Weedle- and Pomona."

Keith, Connor, Meowth, Gaspard, Eleanor, Sewaddle - Connor had been lost in thought in thinking of names for the Sewaddle that he was startled to hear a familiar voice behind him. He turned around to see none other than Keith who looked rather beaten up... and at the same time, had never been more happy in his life. Naturally, Connor was surprised to see him like this. "K-Keith? Hey, what happened to you man?! You look like you've been trampled by a Bouffalant! Why do you look like that?!" he exclaimed as Keith seemed to have told him about how it was his happiest day of his life... which only confused the young photographer even more. He had then explained to him about the Mow Rotom and Coselle being Marion's sister, "Yeah, I know. Jessica told me. I haven't seen her yet though... Marion's recovering now huh? That's good to hear," he gave out a sigh of relief when he heard the news. He then broke out the news about him and Coselle dating-which earned rather nervous looks from Gaspard and Eleanor and yet went unnoticed by Connor-and this only earned him a nod from Connor as he was still rather distracted by the bruises and Meowth's words from earlier. "I see... good for you then huh? Congrats," he simply said to him. Meowth's words echoed through Connor one more time:

"...He always left out a detail when he told dat story- he did drown, but came back ta life when da Pokemon dat saved him bumped inta him ta push him ta shore. 'Cept his soul was startin' ta turn into a Gastly, but when he were revived, it never changed back fer some reason. Long story short, he's one quarter Gastly."

He was so lost in thought that he only barely heard what Keith had said afterwards, "Oh, the lake? Um... I brought Marco, my shiny Octillery, with me. I think he's in there. Lamont, my Poliwag, is in the Pokemon Center after doing some training with him. Marco seems to have taken some interest in him... hey Keith?" he had asked a question when he faced his Meowth seeming thinking about something but then hesistated, "...never mind. I forgot what I was going to say. Ehehe..." he gave out a nervous laugh. He didn't see Keith any different from before finding out about his secret, aside from being covered up in bruises, so why was he troubled over that fact? He did not know the answer himself...

Keith, Connor, Meowth, Gaspard, Eleanor, Sewaddle: "Oh, these?" Keith chuckled as Connor pointed out his bruises. "Nothing to worry about," he reassured Connor. Keith did notice, however, that Connor seemed rather distracted by something as Keith was revealing the news about him and Coselle. Meowth noticed this too, and unlike Keith, had a pretty good idea as to what was distracting him. Connor made to ask him a question, but after a moment's hesitation, seemed to decide against it, stating that he had forgotten what he was going to say. Keith looked at Connor for a second, and then glanced at Meowth, who was looking somewhat guilty. Then, Keith shut his eyes and sighed for a second as he pieced two and two together. Coselle had mentioned that there might be others listening in, back at the Rose Garden... Keith had thought it was just a Minccino, but now he had a shrewd feeling that that wasn't the only Normal-type that overheard his talk with Coselle.

"Excuse me," Peeves said suddenly, floating over at the commotion. "I seem remember it you who no know meaning of word 'whisper'."

"Takes one ta know one," Meowth retorted. "Twice I whispered stuff in yer ear, and twice youse repeated it in da form of a very loud exclamation!"

"It very surprising news!" Peeves said defensively.

"OK, OK, that's enough," Keith said. "Now come on, guys, stop fighting. What's done is done. I'm not saying this is the way I'd have chosen other people to find out that I'm one fourth Gastly, but I was getting a little tired of keeping the whole thing secret anyway."

"Hey- what happen you, anyway?" Peeves asked suddenly. "You look like you run over by Graveler."

"You look like you got new job teach anger management classes for Primeape."

"Peeves-"

"You look like-"

"Peeves!" Keith exclaimed sharply. "I get the idea!"

"So answer question," Peeves said.

"Well," Keith said, a grin involuntarily creeping back up onto his face, "I'm not the kind of person who goes into detail about this kind of thing, but I'll just say that things got a little... shall we say... intense... between me and Coselle, and we'll just leave it at that OK?"

"...Oh," Peeves said lamely. "Well, why you no just say that?"

"What part of 'I'm not the kind of person who goes into detail about this kind of thing' did you not understand?"

"...Oh. Right," Peeves said. Meowth facepalmed.

Keith turned back to face Connor. "So, I guess my secret's out," he said sheepishly. "Was that what you were gonna ask about, by the way?" he added, having a shrewd suspicion that Connor didn't really forget what he was about to ask.

In answer to her question, Connor rattled off a list of names off the top of his head, and Jessica mulled them over carefully. None of them really seemed to click though, and so she shook her head, thanking him politely nonetheless.

Just then, Jessica heard a hum, followed by a mild breeze that stirred her hair slightly. Turning, she found a familiar-looking fan hovering near the picnic, sparking with joy upon seeing her brothers. Jessica smiled.

“Hi! Would you like to join us? Where’s your trainer?”

As soon as she spoke, there followed a bright flash, and all of a sudden a Qwilfish was sitting close by, startling Jess. As its beady eyes stared at her, she wondered where and how it had come from, or for that matter how it could survive out of water. Meowth and Peeves were quick to introduce the creature as Hebenon. Ah, so he’s another one of Keith’s Pokémon. That would explain it. Jessica hid a smirk, having certainly heard of the (in)famous fish and his abundant arsenal of abnormal abilities. She shifted to make room for both visitors, noting how crowded the cloth was quickly becoming, as Sewaddle set to work making more clothes. (With this much practice, soon she could probably open her own business.)

Suddenly, a bark sounded, and Kief came bounding up the hill. Rather than returning to his trainer, he made a beeline for Matthew’s blanket, colliding into Crim and rolling with the other raccoon in the grass. Kief grinned and wagged his tail, inviting his doppelganger to play. Jessica giggled, then glanced around in search of the girls.

“Say, Kief. Where are Kanna and Minchi? Weren’t they with you?”

Kanna, Minchi, Matthew, Ares:

“Are- Are we lost?”

“Of course not! …I’m sure it’s this way.”

“…We’re lost, aren’t we?”

“Oh hey, look! There are some stairs here!”

“We’re lost.”

Minchi sweatdropped, as Kanna sighed. Had she not already spent most of her tears crying her heart out earlier, she would’ve surely broken down in sobs right about now. Still, it hurt to think she might not get to see Kief again, or Jess, or Atzu and the others… She sniffed and simply curled up into a ball, giving up on the prospect of ever getting home.

“Oh no you do~on’t!” Minchi exclaimed as she lifted the Furret’s face and tried to (lightly) slap some sense into her. “You can’t keep feeling sorry for yourself forever! There are plenty of other Magikarp in the sea!” Her friend only dangled listlessly from her arms however, and Minchi heaved in slight exasperation as she hefted the limp creature up on her own back. …Well, she supposed it served her right considering she had received a free ride earlier. It was her turn to return the favor. “Come on, let’s at least go see what’s up there. Look, that sign says ‘To Observation Deck’. It’ll give us a view of the whole park, so we’ll surely be able to spot the picnic.”

Minchi half-dragged, half-supported Kanna up the steps, taking short rests every now and then. Eventually the two made it up to the top of the cliff, where they collapsed in a heap.

“There – huff – that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Minchi gasped with a grin. Kanna slowly raised her head, and her eyes widened.

“Something’s coming!” she screamed, sitting bolt upright. “It’s huge! It looks like a dragon! OhmygoshitsgonnaeatuswhatdowedowhatdowedoHEEELP!” She started wailing.

“Hush, hurry and hide over here! Quick, get down!” Minchi grabbed Kanna’s hand and pushed her towards a tree, tucking her own tail behind it just in time as an Aerodactyl alighted upon the platform, the wind from its wings nearly blowing the two away had they not hung onto some low branches. A boy slid off the creature’s back, and Minchi breathed in relief upon realizing it was tame, but continued to watch warily. The youth removed a ball from his bag, before releasing it and raising a foot to shatter the silver against the stones. He shared a few sorrowful words with the Rock Pokémon, who shook its head and cawed, planting itself permanently. The boy blinked, then beamed, withdrawing another blue ball to reclaim his prehistoric pal, christening it anew. Once its trainer had climbed aboard again, the creature spread its wings and shot flames of glory into the air. While Kanna ducked and covered, Minchi quickly raised the camera and grabbed a snapshot of the beautiful scene. The proud pair then took off, leaving Minchi and Kanna in awe of Aerodactyl’s power. Once its silhouette was out of sight, the two crawled out cautiously.

“Aw, wasn’t that sweet? They turned out to not be so scary, huh?” Minchi gushed as she looked over the gorgeous photo she had taken.

Before Jessica could go look for the gals, she was distracted by another voice calling out. This time it was Keith, appearing rather disheveled but otherwise in high spirits. As he came close and addressed Connor, Jessica quietly noted a few bruises on the boy’s arms, but made no comment. The mention of Marion’s improved condition caught her attention however. Jessica hoped this meant she might be able to visit her friend soon. She wanted to ask more but Keith continued hinting happily – and heavily – about his rendezvous with Coselle, plus he seemed more preoccupied speaking to Connor than her. Feeling uncomfortable and left out of the loop as usual, she stood to make room for all the new arrivals and approached Matthew’s spread instead. Spotting a white Frisbee lying to the side, an idea occurred to her.

“Hey, do you guys want to play a game with me and Kief?” she pointed to the disc and nodded towards the two roughhousing raccoons. “I’m not very good at throwing though… Or catching,” she corrected, scuffing her shoes in the soil. Still, she wished he would accept. Even if she ended up embarrassing herself, at least it would help take her mind off the awkwardness hanging in the air.

As for Minchi and Kanna, she figured they were probably all right. The former took sass from no one, and definitely wouldn’t let anything bad happen to the latter. For that Jessica was grateful Kanna finally had a (female) friend she could count on. Kief and her were close, of course, having both belonged to the same trainer before being traded to Jess, but when it came to some things the little guy just had no clue. Typical male behavior, she thought – not that she knew much about these matters herself. Anyway, it might even do the Furret some good to be out on her own for a bit, without relying on Jessica to fuss over and protect her all the time. Sometimes a little trust could travel a long way to building character and confidence. …At least that’s what she’d been told.

Keith, Pomona, Jessica, Matthew, Peeves, Meowth: As Jessica got up and moved off to another part of the park, Keith started feeling a little bad about leaving her out of the conversation. Before he could think any more on this, though, a blue-green blur dashed past him- Keith looked, and as Jessica was suggesting the idea of a game of Frisbee, his Ivysaur Pomona had somehow heard it from wherever she had been in the park, and had already grabbed the disc in her mouth and was jumping up and down excitedly.

"Wha- Pomona," Keith sighed. "Excuse me a sec," he added to Connor as he walked over to where his Ivysaur was. "Now come on, what did I tell you about just jumping in like that?"

Pomona giggled sheepishly, albeit in a muffled voice, the disc still in her mouth.

"Sorry," Keith added to Jessica. "Pomona here is very playful. She's kind of a handful at times, but you couldn't ask for a kinder, sweeter, and more lovable Ivysaur. Also... Sorry about kinda leaving you out of the conversation back there," he added, somewhat sheepishly. "I mean, I don't normally leave others out like that, but it's been... heh... a pretty exciting day for me," he said, grinning once again. 'Anyway, yeah, sorry about that. Good to see you again, Jessica," Keith said. He then turned to see another trainer, another one he remembered... from somewhere. After thinking for a second, Keith suddenly remembered, this was the guy who had emerged from the bar's bathroom and had absolutely no memory of the previous year. They hadn't talked much before he had had to leave the bar. "Oh, hi," Keith added. "Matthew, right?"

At this moment, Peeves and Meowth followed Keith over. "I just want say thanks again for food," Peeves said to Jessica. "It all very good."

"Peeves- have you guys been pestering other trainers for food?" Keith asked.

"No my fault," Peeves said defensively. "I hungry, and you no should pack picnic before return you Basculin to it Poke Ball."

Keith opened his mouth as if to argue, then closed it again. "Alright, yeah, good point," he conceded. "I figured Pisces would leave it alone given it wasn't trying to swim away from her."

Keith shrugged, unable to really argue with that comparison. "I hope Meowth didn't freak you out too badly, what with his ability to talk," he said to Jessica. "Catches a lot of people by surprise at first."

Being introduced to each of Jessica's Pokémon one by one Matthew Brown greeted each with a friendly smile; impressed at the Rotom's electronic communication while taking a slice of bread from the Drifloon's basket. The young man carefully bit down on the bread, conserving its flavour and feeling the smooth, fresh texture on his tongue as the rich and powerful flavors rolled off his palate.

“I'm certainly no expert Blueberry but you should consider selling this, it's fantastic!” he commented, looking back to his own Pokémon munching down on his food wondering if they felt the same of his cooking skills. “Maybe you could give me a lesson so I could become a better chef one day?”

As he finished, the small caterpillar creature crawled up beside him carrying a massive amount of clothes. With gifts for each of his team Matthew grinned from ear to ear at the Pokémon's impressive ability, calling over each of his team-mates to receive such wonderful gifts. With Porygon first, the electronic prism Pokémon the first to try on its outfit, beeping with happiness at its trench-coat as it spun in the air, catching the tails flap in the wind as it did so.

With Porygon very much satisfied with its clothing, next came the turn of Anorith, Omanyte and Lileep; each receiving little gloves for each of their appendage and each appreciating the warm such gloves gave them, Lileep waving her tentacles in the air in gratitude. With them complete, Matthew helped the Sewaddle put on little hats for Togepi and Shieldon, both meeping in happiness as Togepi waved its arms around causing Matthew to pick it up and hold it close to his body.

For Crim, however, the caterpillar had crafted a special gift; a sweater and boots combination similar to Jessica's, Matthew helping put them on the troublesome Zigzagoon as it wagged its tail at the gift, eagerly and curiously sniffing each boot before finding its tail then chasing it round in circles. Matthew laughed aloud at the Tiny Raccoon's behavior, such energy from such a young Pokémon exerting life back into the what could be considered slow team of fossils. Turning round, Matthew was presented with a final gift; a crown to which he placed on his head, bowing on one knee as he accepted it, profusely thanking the Sewaddle for its gifts, before collecting the Aerodactyl wings.

“I'm sure Hauser will love them but he's a bit tied up eating fruit it would seem” he chuckled, knowing his Aerodactyl enough to know when not to disturb him “I will make sure to put them on when he is done though. Thank you very much, they're all great”

He turned to Jessica as she asked for name suggestions but was forced to shake his head in defeat, unable to think of anything.

“I'm afraid I can't think of any names, I'm actually pretty poor at it. My own team have been through the renaming process enough times” he stated, nervously glancing down to his Rhyperior twice renamed and now called Murdoch. He glanced around his team and ushered them forward, introducing each one, starting with ones who had recently been renamed.

“This is Deckard and Crim, Hauser you know in the tree” he said, referring to the Porygon still hovering up and down at amazement of its coat tails, the Zigzagoon still chasing its tail and the Aerodactyl scoffing down pear-like fruits in the tree she had picked out, “And you remember the rest of the gang. They haven't had name changes yet but we're working on it”

He smiled as he turned to his team, each one waiting for a new name, but with so many to pick Matthew had decided to give it a little time, telling each Pokémon they would earn their nickname through various accomplishments, and a change of Pokéball. As he thought about it, however, he heard a voice to his left, one suggesting names where he could not. Alarmed, Matthew turned round to a trainer around the age of 14 offering nickname advice, Matthew having completely missed his presence in his rush to put feed his Pokémon.

“My sincere apologies, sir, I must've missed you sitting there” he said, scooting along the mat to reach over before offering a handshake, “The name's Matthew Brown, how do you do?”

As he did, Matthew heard a crackle of leaves underfoot turning his head to spot a familiar face, one more bruised and battered from the last time they had met but a familiar face none the less. Struggling to remember his name, the thought finally popped as he recalled their encounter at the bar.

“Kieth, how do you do?” he said, ignoring all the bruises as the trainer moved with a skip in his step. “Sorry about the bar, I got really drunk on then I can't remember what happened. I just woke up with a headache in my base the next morning”

Matthew chuckled to himself as the Zigzagoon finally stopped chasing its tail, sticking out its tongue and panting as Matthew moved back to his bag, rooting around at the bottom before bringing out a bowl, filling it with water and putting it down for Crim to lap up. As he did, he seemingly missed the commotion and talk behind all the talking between trainers and the cries of Pokémon smiling as he embraced the warm weather and beautiful atmosphere, closing his eyes.

It did not last long, however, as the trainer was awoken by a bark from a fair distance away, Matthew opening both eyes and wondering what Crim had done now, already mentally preparing to go get the rapscallion from trouble. Despite his preconceptions, it was not Crim who was the source of the bark but another Zigzagoon, one dressed in black boots, a sweater and a Team Pocket hat, the burning red emblem a sign of mischievous trouble for sure.

Expecting the Pokémon Matthew knew as Kief to head straight for its trainer, he was surprised as it began running towards his blanket, colliding with Crim and causing both Raccoon tumbling into a roll. Matthew giggled as Crim was spat out of the tumble backward facing, leaving a confused look on the Pokémon who was just lapping up water. Turning, Crim cocked its head at the doppelganger Pokémon before planting its forefeet on the ground, raising its butt before wagging its tail and jumping at the other Zigzagoon, overestimating the jump and flying over Kief's back, landing in a side-roll before bounding up and down and running to be chased.

Rubbing the back of his neck with relief that Crim found a friend, Matthew found himself smiling at the two Raccon's antics before Jessica spotted the Frisbee, asking if everyone wanted to play, but with apprehension to skill

“I'm certainly no master either, I just bought it this morning on my way to the park when I realised I didn't have any playthings” he said, “Every time it doesn't end up in a tree I consider it a good shot”

Picking up the Frisbee and placing himself far enough away to make it interesting but not too far away he couldn't hear anybody, finally throwing the disc with a deft flick of the wrist, slowly sending the Frisbee through the air.

Hyrem had heard a park was opened, but it took him a while to get himself out there. It was worth it, though; he had a picnic basket set up with all kinds of goodies for his Pokemon. Sera accompanied him, as usual, to start off with, but once they found a nice spot by the open lake Hyrem took out a Blue Cyber Ball, a Dragon Ball, and three regular Pokeballs. "Okay guys, time for a picnic!"

Out of one of the Pokeballs, comes a Chinchou, who was released into the clear water. "Chou!" Delilah says happily. It sure was a nice change of pace being in such a big lake instead of in the smaller aquarium at the bar. A Skarmory, Venipede, Purrloin, and Turtwig appear out of their capsules soon after. Aisa, the Venipede, crawls her way towards Hyrem's leg and looks up at him with soft eyes. "Heh, okay, I'll hold you in a sec, but we've gotta break out the food first, right?"

"Veni~!" she says happily as Hyrem opens up the basket to reveal nuts, fruit, fish, metal piping, all sorts of good eats for him and his Pokemon. "No need to rush, guys, just help yourself when you want to, there's plenty of stuff in here! So before you head off, say hi to Selina and Toby, they're your new teammates!"

Each of them exchange friendly greetings toward each other, then Icarus flies into the skies to see who he could turn into potential fans of him, while Delilah goes for a swim around the lake and Selina and Toby find someplace to rest. Sera and Aisa stick close by as Hyrem takes the little Venipede into his arms and cradles her like a baby. Aisa chitters happily while wriggling her tiny legs in her trainer's view. "Aw, you're really cute like this!" Hyrem said with a smile. Sera gives Hyrem a warm orange color in his head, making sure he remembered what the little Bug-type can get up to. "It's fine, Sera!" he said confidently. "As long as she doesn't start eating my hair, we'll be fine!"

Pisces, Hebenon, Delilah: Pisces had just polished off the last of the Bouffalant carcass, and was now, almost inexplicably, hungry for a second course. And she could already smell a new presence in the lake... Silently she swam off, the Blue-Striped Basculin steadily picking up speed as she got nearer and nearer to the Chinchou... Faster... she opened her mouth wide... faster still... the Chinchou could very likely hear her now, but who cares? She was so close now it didn't matter-

WHAM!

Pisces found herself knocked way off course after something collided with her extremely forcefully. Once she regained her bearings, she swam back over, to see Hebenon, panting slightly from the force he had put into his Giga Impact, but looking very, very pissed off.

"What is it this ti-" she began.

"Silence," Hebenon interrupted in a deadly quiet tone, a fire burning in his eyes. "You just tried to eat my girlfriend. You don't get to talk anymore. Leave. Right. Now."

The Basculin shot an insolent glare at Hebenon before swimming off, grumbling to herself. Hebenon then turned to face Delilah, his expression already softening.

"You OK, Delilah?" he asked kindly. "I am so sorry about her... That's Pisces, one of my newest teammates... she tries to eat just about everyone she meets."

Pisces, Hebenon, Delilah, Marco: As Marco had observed the events between the Basculin, the Qwilfish, and the Chinchou, he shook his head and merely sighed. ~When is that Basculin ever going to learn... you can't just eat anybody you want,~ Marco thought to himself as he relaxed in the lake. Honestly, he would have preferred the ocean, but this place was working just fine to him.

Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor, Keith, Pomona, Jessica, Matthew, Peeves, Meowth: "I'm that bad of a liar am I?" he sighed as Keith caught on on his lie about forgetting. Connor was quite uncomfortable with finding out about secrets not related to him especially if those secrets weren't offending anyone in particular. Gaspard had leapt up on his shoulders to give him a worried look, "It's okay Gaspard, I'll be fine," he smiled to him and then then turned back to Keith. "I'm sorry. I obviously wasn't supposed to know was I?" he apologized to Keith. "I was just... surprised that's all. I mean, I've never heard of you b--- I mean that before," he said as he made sure not to say the specifics of Keith's secret lest other people have heard them. "Jeez, I don't even know why I'm still worked up over this. I don't really have a problem with that but... oh I'm sorry," he apologized once more. When Keith had mentioned how he got the bruises, Connor quickly blushed and interrupted Keith, "Okay, we get it we get it! That's one thing I do NOT want to find out the entire story to!" he stammered as he flailed his arms signaling him to stop.

Trying to change the subject, Connor asked him a different question, "So, aside from that, what have you been up to lately? I know I don't visit the Bar as much as I want to anymore. I'm starting to get busy now with my photography work and all you see. Speaking of which... by any chance, have you seen my camera?"

Keith, Peeves, Meowth, Connor, Gaspard, Eleanor: "Yeah, I wasn't planning on other people knowing, but it's fine. Truth be told, I'd be surprised if you weren't surprised, it's OK." As he hastily interrupted Keith's vague explanation for his bruises, Keith chuckled sheepishly. "Relax, I wasn't gonna go into detail. I wasn't even gonna say that much to begin with, was I, Peeves?" he added, with a glance at his Duskull.

"I sorry I ask," Peeves replied.

At that point, Connor tried to change the subject, asking Keith what he had been up to lately- Keith could only assume that this did not count his recent encounter with Coselle, of course. "Nothing much," Keith replied. "I got another Shuppet. Her name's Helena, she's actually really nice. I mean, really, really nice. Nice like my Ivysaur. I didn't bring her here today, though..." Connor then asked if Keith had seen his camera. "No," Keith said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Wait," Meowth said. "Dat Minccino had a camera, dat might be yours."

"Minccino?" Keith repeated sharply, remembering having glimpsed a Minccino in the bushes back in the Rose Garden. "Meowth- where was this Minccino?"

"Er..." Meowth stammered, realizing far too late what he had said. "M-might've been in da bushes... over in da garden..."

"So I did see a Minccino spying on me and Coselle," Keith frowned. "Did this Minccino take any pictures?"

Delilah, Hebenon, Pisces: Delilah was happily swimming around, enjoying a much bigger body of water besides the oceans in Whale Island. The Chinchou had just gotten used to fresh water and was ready to find herself a few tiny fish to eat, but before she could, she sensed danger coming up to her very quickly; she was being hunted too! She turned around to find a Basculin almost close enough to engulf her with its jaws when a Qwilfish rammed the predator with such force that she was knocked to the side a good distance. Apparently, this Basculin was Hebenon's teammate, and Pisces didn't care who or what she would eat as long as she caught something in her mouth. "Y-yes, I'm fine, thank you," said Delilah, a little shaken up after the ordeal. "That reminded me of another Basculin that Hyrem got in the same fishing contest he got me in. It was very aggressive and even bit his foot, but then Daphne evolved into a Nuzleaf and fought it off. He had to choose only one catch to enter into the contest, and he chose me and released the Basculin. And I'm really grateful he did that and then decided to add me to his team. Anyway, that Basculin was just as scary as your teammate, and it was red instead of blue. I wonder if the colors make Basculin different."

Selina: Selina was prancing around, looking for a nice spot to curl up and take a catnap by herself, but then she saw a Meowth with a familiar scent; it was the Meowth she met at the Pokemon-only park! "Meowth, wait!" Selina called out to him, but Meowth had already gone into the brush and so couldn't hear her. "Nya, I guess I'll just have to wait for him," she pouted before prancing past Keith, Connor, and the Pokemon with them.

Icarus, Hauser: Icarus liked this place; clear skies, nice lake, an Aerodactyl eating fruit... wait, AN AERODACTYL!? Icarus squawked in surprise as his eyes in the skies picked up the ancient Pokemon... they were supposed to be extinct! All he knew was that Aerodactyl looked like a Pokemon that deserved plenty of space, so he was about to fly off in a different direction... but he'd never seen a Pokemon like that before. He perched at a another branch, making sure to keep a healthy distance away from the dinosaur, though his keen eyesight could pick out what Aerodactyl was doing from a fairly good distance, so that wasn't a problem.

Hebenon, Delilah: "I've only ever met one Basculin, and that was her right there," Hebenon said. "I didn't even know they came in different colors like that." Then, Delilah revealed that Hyrem had had to choose between her and the Red-Striped Basculin he had caught. "I'm glad he chose you, too," he said, now smiling. "Otherwise, I might never have met you."

Meowth, Selina: As Meowth raced into the brush, he heard a faint yet familiar voice call out to him, one that made him stop dead in his tracks, all thought of tracking the Minccino down cleared right out of his mind. "Selina?" he said to himself hopefully as he turned around and raced right back out of the brush. He looked around, and sure enough, spotted the Purrloin of his dreams prancing past Keith. Meowth dashed over and caught up with Selina within seconds. "Hi dere, Selina," he said, simultaneously nervous and excited to be near this Purrloin again. "Nice ta see ya again."

Before Jessica or Matthew could reach for the disc, a green blur blinked through the park and snatched it up. Jessica stunned, amazed such a squat creature could move so fast. As Keith came over and wrested it from his Ivysaur’s ironclad jaws, she shook her head. The boy’s Pokémon really were something else. After meeting a talking Meowth in the flesh though, nothing really surprised her. He apologized for his Pokémon’s behavior, as well as his own, blaming it on the “exciting day” he had. I’m sure, Jessica thought as she eyed the bruises on his arms, but instead simply said,

“It’s all right. If Pomona wants to play too, she can. Right?”

She asked, turning to Matthew. Another thought arose, and she reached for a brown ball that strangely sprouted a tuft of fur in the back. “I think I know someone else who’d like to join,” she stated as she released a small Poochyena on the scene. For some reason, he seemed to be sporting a broken chain on his left paw, and his trainer flushed at some of the stares she received.

“Er, don’t worry, I plan to get it removed soon. …Not really sure how though,” she murmured. “Anyway, it doesn’t seem to interfere much with his movement, so it should be fine?”

Kief bounded up to canine, aptly named Link, who wagged his tail in greeting before the two spread out after Matthew and Crim. Jessica was about to follow when she noticed Sewaddle’s lids and limbs seemed to be sighing a bit, though she still struggled to sew. As leaves continued to part from the trees, Jess could feel the closing in of winter, bristling as she braced against the chill. She frowned at the holes in her sleeves, souvenirs of her recent Battle with Keith. Pulling another purple jacket from her bag, she put it on while giving the gray to Sewaddle, shushing her to sleep. She could finish the rest of the clothes later. Sewaddle smiled and curled up inside the blanket, still sitting on Gadget’s back, as she absorbed the warmth from his body and the cloth, the rumble from his engine rocking her to rest. Blueberry took a moment from blushing over Matthew’s compliment to fawn over the adorable little angel, helping to tuck her in and sing a soft lullaby in a motherly manner – at the same time giving Gadget a meaningful gaze as Waffle sweatdropped and stood guard just in case. Jessica giggled, glad to have such a capable couple to look after her friends.

Standing up, she nodded to indicate she was ready. As Matthew tossed the Frisbee towards her, she fumbled, but fortunately her teammates came to her rescue. She soon found she need not worry much about catching, as either Kief or Link took quite good care of that department, leaping nimbly and eagerly in the way whenever the saucer soared close, able to interject from almost any angle. While she still struggled with aiming, often sending it far off course, the “opponents” in this case, Crim and Pomona, proved to be just as skilled at keeping up.

So they spent their time, engaged in lively entertainment.

Kanna, Minchi, Meowth, Selina:

After making a mental map of the park and garden, Minchi and Kanna reluctantly climbed back down the stairs and returned to trying to find the route back to the picnic. After several twists and turns (not to mention twigs in their fur), they finally came to the origin. Upon sighting the gate, Kanna gasped with joy and nearly ran out. Minchi pulled her back by the tail though, whispering she heard voices just beyond the wall. Peeking through the leaves, they found a similar lovey-dovey scene, only this time involving Pokémon instead of humans… Er, at least, 100% Pokémon. One of them was the Meowth from before, and Minchi wrinkled her nose, keeping a tight grip on the camera. Who was this other cute cat he was courting though…? She smelled another opportunity for a juicy story. Kanna fidgeted, having had enough of spying for one day, but there was no stopping the chinchilla as she raised the shutter for another shot…

Keith, Pomona, Myrtle, Jessica, Sewaddle, Blueberry, Waffle, Link, Matthew, Crim, Gadget: "Pomona is as energetic and playful as they come," Keith continued. "She doesn't even want to evolve into Venusaur, she doesn't want to not be able to play like that." Keith chuckled as he watched his energetic Ivysaur. "She kinda reminds me of Lily, back when she was a Venonat... She was so hyperactive back then. She still is kinda hyper, but a lot less so now that she's a Venomoth." He then noticed as Jessica called out a Poochyena. Though she seemed to be getting looks for the broken chain around one of its paws, Keith knew Jessica wasn't like that, and that this was more likely left over from a previous owner. He was thinking more about the fact that she already had six Pokemon on hand. The park must be one of those exceptions to the six-Pokemon limit, Keith realized. He took out his Pokedex, but only withdrew one Pokemon from his PC, not wanting to suddenly crowd the park with his entire team. Not all at once, anyway. He did have somewhere close to thirty Pokemon in total, after all. "Well, I know one Pokemon of mine that could stand to relax a little bit," Keith stated as he launched the ball into the air. "Myrtle, come on out!"

In a flash of light, a Shuppet materialized, casting a disdainful glare all around before her eyes settled on Keith. "Where are we now, Meat Sack?" she demanded in English, albeit with a creepy stutter (much less noticeable as of yet, given the monosyllabic nature of the words she had uttered thus far).

"The Fizzytopian Park and Gardens, Myrtle," replied Keith. "Thought you might like some fresh air. Nice chance to relax, you know."

"It mat-ters not to me," Myrtle replied indifferently. It was then that she noticed the bruises on Keith's arms. "You are hurt," she added. Though no concern could be detected in her voice, it must be said that Keith had tried to make the bruises look less obvious, so it wasn't likely that Myrtle discovered them by accident.

"It's nothing, Myrtle," Keith replied, though the memories of how the bruises came to him nearly made him grin stupidly. Though he succeeded in suppressing the grin, he was not as capable of suppressing the emotions. And Myrtle being a Shuppet, she could pick up on both of those.

"I ne-ver took you for a ma-so-chist, Meat Sack," Myrtle said, sounding mildly amused. "What-e-ver caused those brui-ses, the me-mo-ry is ma-king you feel good."

"Myrtle, this is neither the time nor place to get into that sort of thing," Keith said, lowering his voice. He then began speaking in Shuppet language; "But if you must know, I met someone, and we... well... heh," he said, now unable to suppress his grin.

"Well, well, well," Myrtle replied in Shuppet language, now smirking. "Meat Sack has a girlfriend. Who would have thought? Who is she?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Keith replied before resuming speaking English. "So, Myrtle, have you met Jessica? Jessica, this is Myrtle, one of my Shuppet."

"Hel-lo," Myrtle said less than enthusiastically. "I sup-pose I could do much worse than meet-ing you." Believe it or not, for Myrtle, that was downright polite.

Delilah, Hebenon, Pisces: Delilah was happy that Hebenon still had feelings for her and that he admitted he would miss out on the joy of being so close to someone. "Aw, well, th-thanks..." she said while blushing happily. Again, she realized no fish in the deep sea could beat Hebenon. The Relicanth out there looked way too old for her taste, and most of the other fish in there would rather eat her than love her, so she renewed her gratefulness for Hyrem taking her out of the sea. Now that she knew of a better world, there was no going back for her.

Selina, Minchi, Kanna, Meowth: Selina had thought Meowth didn't hear her and so went to a quiet spot to wait for him, but on the way Meowth had caught up to her. "Oh, Meowth!" she meowed. "I thought you didn't hear me! It's so great to see you too!" She then hugged Meowth and nuzzled his cheek, their whiskers touching each other ... Wait! Her sensitive ears picked up something! "Hey, do you hear that, Meowth?" she whispered in his ear, starting to grow suspicious of the situation.

Hyrem, Sera, Aisa, Laika, Amelia: "You know, I think I remember seeing a sign that said you could have more than six Pokemon out," Hyrem said to himself while holding Aisa. "I don't want to bring out too many of them, though." He then looked over at the group of people and Pokemon playing frisbee. "Perfect! I bet he'll enjoy that! Plus I think she needs to stretch her wings a little!" And with that, he brought out two more Pokeballs from his 'Dex. Out of one of them came Laika, the energetic Poochyena, who immediately bowled over Hyrem and Aisa and started licking Hyrem's face in his usual greeting. Aisa was ticked, to say the least. "Hey! Some of us are trying to relax here!" she chattered angrily before spitting out a couple of Pin Missiles which stuck into Laika's rear, causing him to yelp in pain and jump off of Hyrem. "Ow, what was that for? I only wanted to say hi to him!" he whined as he was nursing his bottom.

"Aisa, that wasn't nice!" Hyrem said sternly. "You know that's what he usually does! Now apologize to him!" Aisa's guilt was apparent; her beloved was angry with her! "Sorry," she said apologetically. Hyrem then checked on Laika. Thankfully, he wasn't hurt too much, he'd just have a sore rear for a little while. "It's all right, Laika, you'll be able to shake it off enough. Anyway, see that frisbee?" Laika looked towards the group and perked right up. "Have fun!" his trainer simply said as Laika was already off chasing after the frisbee. Hyrem then brought out a second Pokemon: Amelia, a tiny Taillow. "Tai taiii!" she chirped happily as she flitted about, enjoying the normal habitat a Taillow would live in. "I figured you'd like this place, Mia!" said Hyrem. "Yay!" she chirped again, but then looked around. "Icawus? Icawus? Whew aw you?" she asked, her speech not fully matured. "Who, the metal bird?" Aisa asked. "I can sense him in that direction," she said, pointing her antennae towards where she could sense Icarus. "Oh, thank you!" said Amelia happily. "My name's..Mia. What's youws?"

"It's Aisa," the Venipede chattered back in a friendly manner. "And it's no problem for me to know where our teammate is!"

"Oh, okay! the Taillow chirped back before flying off in Icarus's direction, not knowing what she could possibly run into.

Meowth, Selina, Minchi, Kanna: "Ain't no way I wouldn't hear yer pretty voice," Meowth replied, blushing slightly and sighing contentedly as Selina nuzzled him. Then, the Purrloin seemed to hear something, and in fact, so did Meowth. As she quietly asked Meowth whether he had heard it, he nodded, his eyes narrowing as he slowly turned his head to face the direction from which the nearly imperceptible sound had originated. "I heard it," Meowth whispered back. "I tink we're bein' spied on. And I gots a good feelin' 'bout who's doin' da spyin', too," he added, remembering only too well how willing a certain duo of Normal-types were to spy upon a certain other couple not long ago. Meowth didn't look happy- spying on his trainer was one thing, but now they were spying on him? Well, OK, Meowth was fairly certain that the Furret at least would've given them their privacy, given her way, but that Minccino, on the other hand... The Zigzagoon wasn't likely to still be with them, he wasn't all that quiet, he'd have been a much more noticeable giveaway. Meowth raised his right front paw, an orb of white light covering it. Meowth silently pleaded that his Assist attack would, for once, actually call upon an attack that would actually do something to the intended target. Night Shade against a Minccino, Electroweb against a Stunfisk... Meowth's track record with Assist was pitiful. This time, however, an odd Ray of light blasted forth from the paw and plowed into the bushes, surely to Confuse its occupants.

Hebenon, Delilah: Hebenon smiled as Delilah blushed and thanked him. "So, Delilah," he said, "If you want, I can take you to meet some of my other teammates. I'm pretty sure you didn't meet them all, back at the bar, and Keith got some new ones recently, too. They're better behaved than Pisces, I promise. What do you say?"